Muffin EP

By now, many of you have probably heard of the band The Devil Wears Prada (no relation to the movie of the same name - these guys are much better than that). With three full length releases under their belt, including 2009's With Roots Above And Branches Below, which made it to #11 on the Billboard charts.

Well, the Dayton sextet is back with a little EP that will be sure to make your skin crawl and your spine shiver. That's right, boys and girls, The Devil Wears Prada is taking on the zombie horde with their newest effort Zombie EP. Featuring a much heavier sound than they've ever shown before, this EP is sure to find its way back to your stereo, CD player, or mp3 player over and over again.

Now, I want to be clear here. This is a fun album. Vocalist Mike Hranica stated in an interview that it was supposed to be something fun and brutal. It truly is an EP about the undead. With that being said, I'm also going to say it's one of the best releases this year.

"Escape" opens the album with an atmospheric rain audio clip and some filler keyboards before Mike's scream tears through the night, carried on the wings of some wicked guitar and drum work. The next track, "Anatomy", brings something more familiar to TDWP fans, with their signature guitar/synth combination. A news broadcast leads us into the third song on the album, giving you the basic instructions of how to kill a zombie and ending with the warning, "We are outnumbered", from which this track, "Outnumbered" takes its name. They bring something heavier than we've really heard from The Devil Wears Prada with this song, as it really emphasizes the lower end of the audio spectrum. "Revive" might be my favorite track of the album, because, despite the almost absurd nature of this EP's concept, the boys of TDWP have still managed to write a truly thought provoking epic that is backed by some spectacular musicianship. Finally, Zombie closes with "Survivor" - a chilling track with a very progressive feel to it.

Zombie EP is, without a doubt, The Devil Wears Prada's most brutal release. If you're a fan of heavy music, zombies, or having a good time, I highly recommend this album. If you're not a fan of those things, I highly recommend you rethink your life.

>Pawn